


Come Back to Me

by scarletassasin



Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, winter soldier (and a little bit of red hood) inspired
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-11 00:17:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12310884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletassasin/pseuds/scarletassasin
Summary: Kimberly doesn't know what's worse; The fact that she had Trini die in her arms, or the fact that Trini is now alive and well, looking at her with no idea who she or the other Rangers are.





	1. Chapter 1

The crushing sound of her own helmet was the only thing Trini could hear at the moment. Along with Tommy’s grunts on top of her with every punch that landed on Trini. Trini’s visor was cracked beyond repair and every other punch from Tommy just made the crack even bigger. The side of her helmet is mostly dented in and several parts of her armor were cracked or broken.

The last punch from Tommy finally cracked her visor enough to expose the left side of Trini’s face. The broken glass was digging into her cheek and she could feel the blood trickling down her cheek. Tommy is panting above her and as she pauses for a moment to catch her breath, Trini takes the opportunity to punch her back. Tommy falls back and Trini sits up on the ground to attempt to fight back. 

Tommy’s green armor was also in pretty bad shape. Not as bad as Trini’s but it's obvious that enough damage is done for Tommy to feel the pain underneath her armor. Trini picks up her daggers from the ground and she stumbles as she tries to stand up again. She looks over at Zack’s unconscious body behind Tommy before she lunges at her. Tommy brings up her own dagger to block Trini’s attacks. They're both weak from their long battle but neither of them is backing down.

Trini is finally able to stab Tommy in the shoulder with one of her daggers. It isn't too deep, and Tommy yelped in pain before she kicked Trini back onto the ground and pulled the dagger out of her shoulder, tossing it to the ground.

Trini tried getting up again but Tommy was suddenly above her and kicking her back to the ground. Trini kicked Tommy’s knee which caused her to bend over in pain and Trini took the opportunity to stand up again. She started punching Tommy a few times and caused her to drop her dagger before Tommy got the upper hand again and punched her back. Trini stumble, still clutching onto her own remaining dagger. She then throws it, straight at Tommy’s chest, but before it could hit it’s mark, Tommy grabs it midair. 

 

“Give up Trini” Tommy grumbles as she throws a few more punches at Trini, who is able to dodge most of them.

 

“Stop this Tommy!” Trini pants. “Just end this now! We can help you. We can help you get out of Rita’s control” she tried.

 

“I would never betray my queen!” Tommy yells as she kicks Trini in the gut and when Trini bent over in pain, Tommy elbowed her in the back, sending her falling towards the ground on her stomach. 

 

Trini gripped at the dirt underneath her palms as she tried to get her breathing at a normal pace again. She was exhausted and it was wearing her down. But she wasn't going to give up. She was the last line of defense to keep Tommy out of the ship. Jason, Billy and Kimberly were still fighting putties from Tommy’s attack in town.

Trini and Zack were up at the cliffs to stop Tommy from getting into the ship if she got past the other three Rangers, which she obviously did. Trini heard Zack’s arm break in Tommy’s grip at one point during their fight and she quickly knocked him out after that. So now it was up to Trini. And she was _not_ giving up.

She tried lifting herself off the ground but Tommy kicked her in the shoulder when she was still on her hands and knees, which sent her falling backwards onto her back again. She moved on top of Trini and started punching again, but Trini was able to flip them, causing Tommy to drop Trini's dagger - which Trini had thrown at her moments ago -  as she started punching her. 

Trini could feel her energy draining with every punch and as she lifted her arm to send her next punch to Tommy’s head, she felt a sharp pain in her side. When she looked down, she saw her own yellow dagger sticking out of her side, just over her hip. _Stabbed_ by her _own_ weapon. Their Ranger weapons being one of the only things that could damage or penetrate their armors. Tommy quickly pulled the dagger out, causing Trini to gasp in pain as she fell on her back, before stabbing her again, this time on her left side, right under her ribs. Before she could react, Tommy started punching her again. At one point she stopped and forcefully yanked Trini’s helmet off her head and tossing it behind her. 

Now the punches hurt even more, because Tommy’s fist was making contact with her face rather than her helmet. Trini could taste the blood in her mouth and each punch just hurt more than the last. Tommy was panting again as she stopped punching her momentarily to catch her breath. But Trini felt too weak to move, too weak to fight back. 

 

“I told you all to stay out of my way” Tommy says grimly. “And now look at what you made me do” she says as she pushes the dagger deeper into Trini's wound and twisting it. “A disappointment once again _Yellow_ ” and the way Tommy hissed ‘yellow’ just sounded entirely like Rita.

 

Tommy got back to her feet again but Trini weakly grabbed onto her ankle, trying to pull her back. Tommy growled before picking up Trini’s other dagger and shoving it into her shoulder, making Trini scream in pain.

Then Tommy looked at Trini with a contemplative look on her face, and started mumbling to herself. Talking to Rita (who was still trapped on the moon) through their connection probably, Trini thinks. Tommy nodded before picking up her own dagger and walking back over to Trini. She kneeled above her and raised her dagger, aiming for Trini’s chest. Trini closed her eyes, her armor slowly disappearing from her skin as she prepares for the hit, but it never happens. She just hears Tommy yelp and stumble a bit. She was hit with something from behind her. She stands up and turns around to see Kimberly with her bow raised and aimed at Tommy.

 

“Get away from her!” Kimberly yells and Trini can hear all the anger and worry in her voice. 

 

Tommy doesn't respond as she starts running towards Kimberly, and Trini trues sitting up to help Kimberly but the pain is too overwhelming. She instead raises her head from the ground as much as she can, to watch the fight in front of her. 

Kimberly uses her bow to deflect Tommy’s attacks with her dagger, and at one point she gets enough space between them to shoot Tommy with one of her energy arrows. Tommy stumbles and Kimberly uses that opportunity to hit her upside the head with her bow, sending her falling onto her back. Kimberly takes Tommy's unmoving form as a sign that she’s unconscious so she runs over to Trini, dropping her bow beside her as she kneels down next to her and pulls her into her lap.

 

“Hey baby. You okay?” Kimberly says softly and Trini can hear her voice crack. She can practically feel the worry and fear radiating off her.

 

“Peachy” she struggles to say and Kimberly laughs lightly even though she's already tearing up.

 

“Can you move at all?”

 

“No. It h-hurts too much.”

 

“It’s okay baby, Jason and Billy are gonna be here soon and we’re get you outta here. You’re gonna be fine” Kimberly says, like she's trying to convince herself more than Trini. “And we’ll get Tommy to Zordon and he’ll help her-” Kimberly pauses as she looked back to where Tommy was moments ago, only to see that she's gone.

 

“S-She was probably faking being unconscious to get away” Trini says and Kimberly nods before looking down at Trini again.

 

She then looks down at the daggers in Trini’s abdomen and the one in her shoulder. Trini follows her gaze and sighs.

 

“Pull the daggers out” she grumbles.

 

“Trini-”

 

“Please” she says weakly and Kimberly nods before she slowly started pulling the dagger out of Trini’s shoulder. Trini grit her teeth and her grip on Kimberly's arm tightens. Kimberly let out a little sob when she finally got the dagger out and dropped it in the dirt beside them, whining when she sees it covered in Trini’s blood.

Kimberly shifts a bit and closes her eyes, willing her armor down. It disappears within seconds and she rips off a piece of her own shirt. Enough to cover Trini’s shoulder wound and one of the wound’s on her abdomen, and then she presses down on the cloth on Trini's side, to attempt to slow down the bleeding.

 

“I’m not gonna get the other one out yet. You’re gonna bleed out if I do” Kimberly sniffles.

 

“Okay princess” Trini says weakly, knowing that there isn’t a point in doing that. Because she knows she’s gonna bleed out anyway. She looks up to the other girl who’s gaze is filed with grief and she just _smiles_. An overwhelming feeling of affection courses through her as she stares up at her girlfriend thinking this may be the last time she sees her face. She reaches up with her good arm and cups Kimberly’s cheek. Kimberly rests her own hand on top of Trini’s and rubs her thumb over it.

 

“I love you” Trini says. “I love you so much” she says, feeling weaker and weaker with every passing second, and Kimberly starts sobbing again.

 

“I love you too. I always will. And you can tell me how much you love me later when you’re all better, okay? When you're eating all that gross hospital food and complaining about your IV” she whimpers as she leans down and softly kisses Trini’s lips, and brushing the hair out of Trini's face.

 

“Okay princess” Trini says as she grips Kimberly’s hand tighter. They both know there won’t be a later for them - well, not for Trini at least - but neither of them says it out loud.

Trini’s breaths become even more shallow and her eyelids start feeling heavier. She probably looks really pale right now too with all the blood loss. And that dagger in her side still hurts every time she breathes. So she reaches down and grabs the hilt. Kimberly gives her a worried look but she doesn't say anything as Trini pulls it out slowly, gritting her teeth, her hands shaking as she whimpers in pain. Trini drops the dagger in the dirt before she grips at Kimberly’s shirt tighter for comfort.

 

“It’s gonna be okay Trini” Kimberly sobs. She lied again. Trini just nods silently.

 

They both turn to Zack when they hear him groan, trying to lift himself up. He falls back to the ground, too weak to get up and groans in pain again.

 

“Take care of him, okay?” Trini whimpers. “Don’t let him blame himself for-” she trails off.

 

“There’s nothing that he’s gonna blame himself for. You’re both gonna be fine” Kimberly says.

 

"Okay princess" Trini says again and she just smiles at her weakly before she feels her eyelids growing heavier and she finally lets them close, the pain in her body starting to fade.

 

“Trini- Trini no. Trini open your eyes. Just hold on a little longer okay? Come on baby, open your eyes. Open you eyes for me” Kimberly chokes on a sob as she lightly slaps Trini’s cheek and then pulls her body closer to her chest, kissing her head. “Please Trini just open your eyes” she sobs as she rocks them back and forth.

She pulls back again and cups Trini’s cheek in her hand and she doesn’t even try to hold back her tears as she feels Trini’s body go limp in her arms. Her chest stops rising, signaling that she stopped breathing and Kimberly softly places her fingers on her pulse point. She lets out a choked sob again when she feels it fade.

 

“No” she breathes when she no longer feels a pulse. “No, no, please. Don’t do this to me Trini. Wake up! Please wake up!” she shakes Trini’s lifeless body. “Jason! Jason help!” she screams. “Someone, please!” she sobs. 

 

And Jason and Billy finally arrive moments later. They were finishing off the remaining putties when Kimberly left to check on Trini and Zack who had gone radio silent. Billy runs over to check on Zack and Jason runs over to Kimberly and Trini.

 

“Jason we have to get her to Zordon. She’s- she needs-” she says rapidly, unable to finish her sentence.

Jason who’s still in his armor with his face exposed, looks down at the two girls in shock but quickly snaps out of it and helps Kimberly lift Trini up. 

 

“Billy, how’s Zack?” Jason asks as he wraps Trini’s arm around his shoulder and carries her towards the edge of the cliff with Kimberly holding up her other arm over her own shoulders.

 

“He’s okay. Just really beat up” Billy replies.

 

“Take care of him” Jason says as he walks off the cliff with Trini, landing in the water at the ship’s entrance with Kimberly right behind him. They swim to the bottom and they carry Trini into the ship when they each the ground. 

 

“No” Alpha whispers as he sees them walk in with Trini’s bloodied and battered body.

 

“Zordon!” Jason yells as he and Kimberly set Trini down right under the steps near the morphing pedestals. Kimberly kneels down and rests Trini’s head in her lap, brushing the hair out of her face. 

Zordon’s face suddenly appears on the wall and he looks down at them silently.

 

“You have to save her. Like you saved Billy” Jason says. "Please."

 

“I wasn’t the one who saved Billy. It was the power of the morphing grid” Zordon says.

 

“Whatever it was we need to do that again! How do we bring her back?” Jason aks.

 

“I don’t know if you can” Zordon says sorrowfully, and Kimberly looks up at him with wide eyes.

 

“What do you mean? We did it before, we can do it again!” she yells.

 

“The power that you summoned from the morphing grid to bring back Billy was from your first connection to each other and to the morphing grid. Now that you’re all connected to it, that power can’t be summoned like that again” Zordon explains.

 

“That’s bullshit!” Kimberly yells as she stands up, slowly setting Trini’s head onto the ground. 

 

“I’m not telling you this to stop you from trying” Zordon says. “I’m telling you this because it won’t work.”

 

“It has to!” Kimberly sobs. “She _can’t_ be gone!” 

 

“Kimberly” Jason says softly from beside her as he rests his hand on her shoulder. She pushes his hand off a bit harshly. 

 

“Don’t, Jason. We’re getting her back. There _has_ to be a way to bring her back.”

 

“I’m sorry” Zordon says softly and Kimberly places her hand over her mouth to try to stop a sob from leaving her lips. And that’s when Jason hugs her and she breaks down in his arms sobbing. 

 

They look up to see Billy and Zack come running into the ship at that moment. Zack is limping a bit and he has a Billy’s hoodie tied around his right arm as a makeshift sling.

Kimberly hears Billy let out a slight gasp when he sees at Trini, before he freezes where he stands. Zack looks a bit confused and then his eyes start welling up with tears when he sees her.

 

“No” Zack cries softly as he lets his legs give and he falls to the ground on his knees. Billy sits down at the top step and buries his face in his palms.

 

None of them say anything after that.

 

—————————————————————————

 

Kimberly is the one who tells Trini's parents. She insists on it. She was the one closest to them out of the four of them from all the times she’d visited Trini at her house.

Trini's mother breaks down in her husband's arms and the twins look confused in the background. Kimberly feels the tears streaming down her face again and before she realizes it, she’s being pulled into a hug by Trini’s parents.

 

They arrange a funeral as soon as they can, a few days after Trini’s death. Kimberly spots family members there that she’s never seen before, who had flown in from different areas of the country.

She and the boys stay later than everyone else with Trini’s parents. All Trini’s parents know is that Trini had been attacked during the Green Ranger’s attack on Angel Grove. Whether or not they know Trini was a Power Ranger is a mystery to Kim. Trini once said they probably suspected it but she never confirmed that theory.

They invite Kimberly and the boys to their house if they’d like but they explain that they’d rather stay at Trini’s grave for a while longer. They nod and Trini’s mom gives Kimberly a reassuring squeeze on her arm with a soft smile before they leave. 

All Kimberly can do is stare at the tombstone. Seeing Trini’s name on it just makes this all feel more real. And it fills her eyes with tears again. She’s interrupted from her thoughts when she feels Billy softly hold her hand. She looks up and he gives her a soft smile, his own eyes red from crying. The four of them stand there in silence, thinking there isn’t anything any of them could say that could fix any of this or make them feel better in any way. Billy pulls them all in for a group hug before he says his mom is waiting for him at home and leaves. Zack leaves moments later, saying he has to check on his own mother, leaving Jason and Kimberly alone.

 

“I should go too” Jason says. “I can walk you home” he offers.

 

“I’m gonna stay a little while longer.”

 

“You sure?” he asks worriedly.

 

“Yeah, don’t worry. I just need a moment alone” she says and Jason hugs her one more time before he leaves. 

 

It’s already dark out, with the only lighting around her being from some short lampposts nearby and the moonlight.

 

“I’m sorry” Kimberly mutters. “I wish-” she breathes. “I wish I could've saved you. I wish we had more time together” she kneels down in front of the tombstone and brushes her fingers across Trini’s name on it. “I love you Trin. I’m gonna miss you” she cries softly, before she gets back on her feet and hesitantly starts walking home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've had this idea for a while and decided to finally write the prologue. But I'm still working on my other PR fic too so I don't know how updates will be going. The rating may change later on. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

_“Kim” a voice says softly beside her. “Hey, princess”  the voice says again, and Kimberly definitely recognizes that voice. She opens her eyes to see Trini smiling above her, her hand trailing circles on Kim’s stomach over her shirt._

 

_“Trini?”_

 

_“You were having a bad dream” Trini says._

 

_“Oh. Sorry if I woke you.”_

 

_“Sshh don’t worry about it” Trini says as she nuzzles her nose into Kim’s neck giving her a quick and soft kiss there before pulling back and smiling at her again. “What was it about?”_

 

_“What?”_

 

_“Your nightmare. What was it about it?” Trini says as she tucks some strands of Kimberly’s hair out of her face and behind her ear._

 

_“I- I can’t remember” she admits as she pulls Trini closer. “All that matters is that you’re here with me. And you can comfort me” she smiles widely._

 

_“Always” Trini smiles as she kisses Kim again. It starts out soft, Trini’s warm lips moving against her own at a slow and calming pace and then Kimberly grips Trini’s waist tighter, pulling her closer into her._

 

_She pulls back when she feels something wet on Trini’s shirt and looks down to see her hand covered in something._

 

_“What is-” she brings her hand closer to her face to examine it as Trini looks at her curiously. She sees the red tint on her hand and her eyes widen when she realizes it’s blood. “Trini! You’re bleeding!” she says and when she looks to Trini again, a pained and shocked expression on the shorter girl’s face._

 

_“Kim…” she whimpers and Kimberly looks down to see Trini’s entire chest and stomach covered in blood._

 

_“Oh my god!” Kimberly says as she jumps out of bed. “I- I’ll get you a towel” she says as she dashes to the bathroom. When she returns seconds later, Trini is no longer there. A pool of blood is covering Kimberly’s sheets in the spot Trini was in moments ago and Kim panics as she looks around her room, with no sign of the other girl in sight._

 

_“Trini?!” she yells. “Trini where are you?!” she looks out her window to see if Trini could’ve left through there but sees nothing._

 

_Suddenly she hears a loud bang on her bedroom door. She turns around and sees the door shaking with every bang as if someone’s trying to burst it down._

 

_The door suddenly flies off it’s hinges and there Tommy stands in her green armor, holding Trini up by the collar of her shirt in one hand, and her dagger in the other. Before Kim can react, Tommy throws her dagger straight towards her face and Kimberly shuts her eyes before it makes impact and then-_

 

She opens her eyes again to find herself safely in bed, staring at her ceiling. Her breathing is heavy, her heart feels like it’s racing and she feels like she’s drenched in sweat. Another nightmare. 

 

She’s still not fully awake so she reaches out to the spot in bed next to her, expecting to feel a warm body there to comfort her, but all she feels is the cool sheets against her palm.

 

And then she remembers; The nightmare _is_ real. Trini isn’t actually in bed next to her to comfort her after a nightmare like she always does because she’s… gone.

 

It’s been a two weeks since it happened. Two weeks without Trini, and Kim can’t help but feel a deep and empty hole in her heart. Like something’s missing. In this case, _someone_. She feels a lone tear roam down her cheek as she sniffles. She doesn’t wipe the tears away, just buries face in her pillow, soaking it with her tears.

 

The nightmares are almost a nightly occurrence now. Which isn’t surprising because all she thinks about during the day is Trini anyway. Trini who is gone.

 

Because it’s so noticeable. She hadn’t realized how often she actually used to hang out with Trini when she was alive until she lost her. Because now, she goes to Krispy Kreme alone, she only spars with the boys now at training, there isn’t someone she can look back at in Biology class when things get too boring and she’s always sleeping alone without Trini sneaking into her room at night to see her. And all this just reminds her of Trini and how she used to be by Kim’s side almost all the time.

 

It takes her what feels like hours to be able to stop thinking of Trini and finally fall back asleep, but it feels like her alarm goes off as soon as her eyes closed.

 

She slowly makes her way out of bed and starts getting ready for school, her usual black sweats and a dark pink t-shirt. She mostly just wears sweats and hoodies to school these days, because it’s more comfortable than her usual wardrobe and she doesn’t feel like she can put much effort into all that yet.

 

She starts fidgeting with the yellow braided bracelet on her wrist as she examines herself in her mirror. The bracelet used to be Trini’s. She’d wear it sometimes when her outfit had no yellow in it after Zack once pointed out that one of her outfits didn’t have any yellow and that it was her Ranger duty to wear something yellow. She scoffed and roller her eyes but surely enough, the next time her outfit didn’t have any yellow in it, she wore that bracelet.

 

About a month ago she gave it to Kim. Told her some yellow would look good on her with a smirk. Kimberly had been holding on to it ever since and after she lost Trini, she refused to take it off.

 

That, along with the grey beanie on her desk and the yellow bomber jacket hanging on her chair where the only physical reminders of Trini that she had left on her room. She picks up the jacket and holds it close to her chest for a few seconds, taking in its smell which is so undoubtedly Trini’s, and she sets it back down on the chair before grabbing her backpack and her black hoodie on her way out the door.

 

She greets her parents when she gets to the kitchen. Her dad is sipping his coffee from his mug and reading something on his phone, and her mother is pouring herself another cup of coffee. They give her warm smiles but they don’t say anything past ‘Good morning.’ 

 

They know Kimberly’s still hurting and they tend to tiptoe around her when they talk, fearing that she might go off at any minute and start crying or yelling at them. Kimberly just makes herself a buttered slice of toast to eat on her way to school. She grabs her car keys from the hook next to the door and leaves saying a quick ‘goodbye’ to her parents.

 

She finishes her toast as she puts the keys in the ignition to start the car and starts driving to school as she finishes the last bite. She gets to school faster than she’s used to, because now she doesn’t have anyone to pick up on her way there.

 

She’d usually pick up Jason and Trini but after what happened, Jason no longer asks her to pick him up, fearing that it might emphasize how Trini isn’t there and cause Kim to break down again.

 

Because yeah, it’s happened a few times since that day. Sometimes something small like someone mentioning Trini can cause it, or even her own thoughts when they trail off. The boys are usually there to comfort her but when they’re not, it just reminds Kim of how good Trini used to be at comforting her whenever she was sad or distraught.

 

She finally gets to school, and the first two periods feel like they go by so slowly. Kimberly isn’t as chipper as she once was, so she rarely - if ever - participates in class or interacts with anyone except the boys.

 

And she knows that people know how much she’s hurting because they avoid her and tiptoe around the conversation when they _do_ talk to her, like her parents. 

 

Lunch with the boys is usually the highlight of her schooldays. They’re all still hurting but they’re doing a better job at covering it up than Kimberly. She smiles as Billy and Jason laugh at Zack trying to balance a grape on his nose because he keeps insisting how great his balance is.

 

“Just watch” Zack says. “I’ll get it to stay eventually” he fumbles with the grape as he tries positioning it on his nose in a way that won’t make it fall off, but with no success as of yet.

 

“You keep saying that but you never actually do it” Jason laughs.

 

Kimberly yawns as she picks at her food with her plastic fork. Jason raises his eyebrow when he notices.

 

“Tired, Kim?” he asks.

 

“Yeah. Just didn’t sleep too well last night” she shrugs as she keeps pushing her food around on her tray as a way to avoid meeting his gaze. She looks up momentarily and sees him frown but he doesn’t say anything further.

 

“Aha!” Zack yells triumphantly. “I did it! Did you see that?” he says excitedly as he looks to Kimberly and Jason.

 

“You barely kept it there for a second” Billy adds.

 

“Well that’s a second longer than my last attempts” Zack says proudly and Kimberly can’t help but smile.

 

The rest of the school day feels like it goes by in a blur as it always has been for the past two weeks. Jason mentions something about training as they all leave their separate ways in the school parking lot to get home.

 

Neither of Kimberly’s parents are home when she eventually gets back. They’re never usually home until later in the day. She drops her bag near the steps and plops herself down on the living room couch. She grabs the TV remote and turns it on before she starts absentmindedly flipping though the channels. She gets up at one point to get a bag of chips to eat as she continues flipping through the channels.

 

And that’s usually how her days have been going for the past two weeks. She wakes up, goes to school, comes home with nothing to do, goes to the ship to train with the boys, comes home for dinner and then eventually goes to bed. Things were different when Trini was around. After school, Trini would usually come over before training to hang out and then they’d go to the ship together. So now Kimberly just spends that time alone.

 

Her phone alarm suddenly goes off, a reminder that she has to go to training. She sighs before she gets up, picking up her phone and grabbing a bottle of water from the kitchen fridge before she leaves.

 

Alpha and the boys aren’t anywhere near the entrance or the ship’s main room when she gets there so she suspects they’re already in the Pit as she makes her way down there. 

 

Her suspicions are confirmed when she sees the boys standing in the Pit, discussing something. Jason is just absentmindedly kicking a few small rocks under his feet, Billy is talking to him and Zack his scrolling through his phone.

 

“Hello Kimberly” Alpha says a bit excitedly as he walks up beside her. “Ready for training?”

 

“Yeah” she mutters as she jumps down the ledge and makes her way over to the boys.

 

“Hey Kim” Billy says with smile. She smiles back and gives a little wave to the three boys.

 

“Well I guess we can start since we’re all here” Jason says. “We’ll start off with some sparring. Kim, you’re with Zack, I’ll spar with Billy.”

 

Kimberly nods as she and Zack make their way further away in the pit from the other two boys to give them room to spar. Zack raises his fists and waits for Kim to raise her own before he throws the first punch. Kimberly easily dodges it and uses the momentum to send an uppercut to Zack’s chin. 

 

Zack stumbles a bit before he chuckles. “Not holding back, huh?” he says as he gets back into a fighting stance. He throws a few more punches at Kim’s way and she dodges all of them. She punches back, but Zack is prepared for the hits now, so he easily avoids them. Then she spins to kick him in the head but he leans back before her foot can make contact. He sends a few more punches and kicks at her, and he gets a few hits in but she dodges the rest.

 

The next time he throws a punch, Kim uses his momentum to grab his arm and spin him into a chokehold. He taps her arm, signaling that he gives up and she lets go. He rubs his neck a bit and Kimberly looks at him worriedly, realizing that she held on too strongly.

 

“I’m fine Kim” he says. “Nice move.”

 

“Thanks. I learned it from Trin-” she cuts herself off.

 

“Thought I recognized it” he chuckles lightly, but frowns shortly after, and they stand there in an awkward silence for a while before making their way back to Jason and Billy who have also finished sparring. 

 

“We can fight some putties next” Jason pants. “Five minute break first.”

 

Kimberly picks up her water bottle and takes a few sips of water before taking a seat on one of the rock ledges. She smiles a bit thinking of how Trini would always bring water to training and Kim would always drink from her bottle no matter how many times Trini would tell her to get her own. Now she _always_ brings her own.

 

They eventually start up the putty simulations and take turns practicing some new moves on them before they all get into the pit to fight them together in their armors. Kimberly always takes note on how there’s always a noticeable absence of yellow armor in their fight and it always feels like a punch in the gut.

 

They’re all panting and a little bruised from their earlier non-armored training when they’re done.

 

“Let’s call it a day” Jason says. Each of them gather their own things before they start leaving the ship. They reach the ship’s main room and as they make their way towards the exit, Zordon’s face appears on the wall.

 

“Rangers” he says and they all stop in their tracks to look at him. “Have you made any progress on your search for Tommy?” he asks. They all stiffen and Kimberly winces at the sound of her name. Tommy had disappeared after her attack on Angel Grove two weeks ago. After what she had done to Trini. 

 

Tommy was initially trying to get to the ship that day to get to a stronger connection to the morphing grid through the ship’s morphing grid room. Zordon suspected that she was trying to find a way to get Rita back on earth from the moon. And after she had failed to get to the ship, she disappeared. The Green Ranger hasn’t tried attacking again, and Tommy hasn’t showed up at school ever since. They were all on edge about it, because who knew what she and Rita could be planning. So the four of them set out a search to find her, but with no luck so far.

 

“And what of the yellow power coin?” Zordon asks cautiously, knowing that it’s still a sensitive subject. Trini’s yellow power coin had disappeared moments after she died and they haven’t had any luck finding it. The four of them look at each other hesitantly before Jason looks back to Zordon. 

 

“We haven’t found it yet” he says. “We think it might be somewhere in the mines, near the ship.”

 

“It would be in everyone’s best interest if we knew where it was as soon as possible” Zordon says ominously.

 

“Why?” Zack asks. “Isn’ it just waiting for the next yellow ranger to find it?” he frowns.

 

“That doesn’t necessarily mean the next yellow ranger will find it now. It could choose another yellow ranger years from now. So all that power is just trapped there unclaimed until the next worthy yellow ranger finds it. And if Tommy finds the coin before then, there’s no telling what she  and Rita could do with that power. Even worse, they could find the next yellow ranger and convince them into joining them.”

 

Kimberly feels her anger rising with every mention of Tommy’s name. Yes, Tommy is being controlled by Rita through her power coin and has no control over her own actions but Kimberly can’t help but feel anger and maybe even hatred towards her. Because Trini’s gone and there’s no way to bring her back and that was done by Tommy’s hand. Kimberly tries to ignore her grief and lets this anger take over until there is no room for sadness.

 

“That good with you Kim?” she hears Jason say and she looks at the three boys staring at her as she snaps out of her thoughts.

 

“Sorry, what?” she asks.

 

“About patrol. We all take turns every night” Billy says.

 

“Yeah, sounds good” she nods.

 

“And if anyone sees anything, you don’t go in alone. Call the rest of us before you engage” Jason adds. “I’ll go tonight. We can decide who gets tomorrow night at school tomorrow.” They all agree before they start heading home and for a moment, Kimberly wishes they could all stay a little longer so she doesn’t have to face the reality of being alone at home yet again. 

 

—————————————————————

 

The next few days go by as they usually do. School is the same, training is the same etc.

 

But that Friday morning, Kimberly sees her. Tommy Oliver walking through the school’s entrance with her backpack slung over one shoulder as she laughs with a blonde girl that Kim recognizes from her English class. Laughing like she has no care in the world, as if everything is normal. As if she hadn’t taken Kimberly’s world away from her two weeks ago.

 

A dark look takes over her face as she starts to make her way towards the green ranger but she feels herself being pulled backwards by the arm. She turns to see Zack frowning at her, still holding on to her arm. She yanks her arm out of his grip and scowls at him.

 

“What the hell Zack?!” she says angrily, at a low enough volume that only the two of them can hear.

 

“I know what you’re thinking and you can’t do it” he says firmly, a frown still on his face.

 

“She’s _right_ there Zack!”

 

“And what are you gonna do?” he whispers. “Morph in front of everyone here and make a scene?” 

 

“But-”

 

“We’ll get her Kim. Just not right here” he says and she sighs frustratedly before she nods in agreement.

 

Tommy walks by them at that moment and Kimberly glares at her as she passes by. Tommy just glares back as she passes them before smiling at couple of other students and high-fiving them.

 

Zack soothingly rubs his hand in circles on her back as he tries to calm her, but Kimberly just continues glaring at the other girl.

 

The rest of the school day feels like it goes by slower than Kim would have preferred. Her leg is bouncing from anxiety as she waits for her last class to finally end. When the bell finally rings, signifying the end of the school day she practically runs out of the classroom and out to the parking lot. Zack joins her a few minutes later with Jason and Billy in tow and they wait at the bottom of the steps as they wait for Tommy to walk out. The students exiting the school start becoming less and less and Kimberly feels her patience wearing thin when the parking lot and the school become empty. Eventually Tommy walks out of the building alone and glares at them. 

 

“We need to talk” she says as she walks up to them.

 

“Oh we’re _way_ past talking” Kimberly says angrily.

 

Tommy smirks before looking around the parking lot and before the other four rangers can do anything, Tommy morphs. She quickly kicks Jason in the knee, hits Billy in the chest and headbutt’s Zack before she brings her dagger up to Kimberly’s throat as Kimberly leans back over the stairs’ railing to keep herself up.

 

“Where is the yellow power coin?” she asks in a sinister voice that doesn’t entirely sound like her own. It sounds more like Rita’s.

 

“We don’t know” Kimberly says through gritted teeth as she stares back at Tommy defiantly. She pushes harder on her dagger onto Kimberly’s throat and looks around to the boys, waiting for their answer.

 

“We really don’t know!” Jason says in a panicked voice as he looks at Kimberly worriedly. Zack and Billy nod in agreement.

 

“Okay, then where did you initially find your power coins?” Tommy asks.

 

The boys don’t say anything so Tommy pushes on her dagger, digging into Kimberly’s skin and she winces.

 

“At the mines!” Zack replies. “But it’s not there, we already checked. Just let her go!” Tommy hesitated before she pulls her dagger back and turns to the four of them.

 

“If you follow me, I swear, I’ll kill another one of you” Tommy warns before she turns around and starts running to the mines.

 

They all look at each other and at Jason who just nods and says “It’s morphin time” before they all morph into their armors and run after Tommy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm working on this fic and my other PR fic simultaneously, so the updates won't take too long for now. Thanks of reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Kimberly pants as she jumps up the next hill. Tommy was fast, and she was already at the mines, with Kimberly and the boys right behind her.

 

Tommy suddenly skids to a halt when she reaches the top of the next hill and flashes her dagger at them. 

 

“You really want to do this?” Tommy yells from the top of the hill. “I already killed one of you and I can do it again” she says, sounding a bit unsure of herself.

 

Kimberly grits her teeth. “I’m gonna kill her” she mutters, not meaning it literally but still with enough anger to make it seem that way.

 

“Kimberly…” Jason says as he looks at her. She can’t see his face though his helmet but she knows the look on his face is disappointment “It’s Rita’s fault.” 

 

Kimberly sighs. “I know” she says before they all jump up the hill to meet Tommy.

 

“Tommy, we don’t have to do this. We can help you fight Rita’s control” Jason says and Tommy scoffs as the front of her helmet lowers, revealing her face.

 

“Really? You’re gonna go with _that_ again? Haven’t you learned that it doesn't work?” she says.

 

“We’re trying to help you Tommy. Don’t take the fall for Rita’s actions” Jason pleads.

 

“You know, Trini tried pleading with me like that too. And you saw how that ended for her” Tommy says with a slight smirk on her face and that just becomes the final thing that makes Kimberly snap..

 

She lunges at Tommy before she can react and has her pinned to the ground, as she starts punching her. Her mind flashes back to Trini’s cracked and dented helmet on the ground when Kimberly found her dying that day by the cliffs and she just punches harder, grunting with each hit. She feels the tears welling up in her eyes which makes her grateful for the helmet covering her face, preventing anyone from seeing them.

 

“Don’t you _dare_ say her name!” Kimberly yells as she continues punching. “Don’t you _ever_ say her name again!” and she feels Tommy’s helmet cracking as Tommy goes limp on the ground beneath her but she keeps punching.

 

“Kim stop!” she hears Jason say as he grabs her arm but she yanks it out of his grip to continue hitting Tommy. “Kim!” he pleads again. “Trini wouldn’t want you to do this!” and that makes her freeze before Zack pulls her off of Tommy’s still form. She lowers the front of her helmet so Jason can see the anger and shock on her face. 

 

“Did you really just say that to me?” her voice cracks through the anger.

 

“She wouldn’t-” she cuts him off by shoving him.

 

“Whoa Kim calm down” Zack says.

 

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” she yells before turning back to Jason. “Tommy _killed_ her, Jason” she hisses. “What Trini would have wanted doesn't matter now because she’s gone! And I can’t bring her back” she chokes on a sob.

 

“It was Rita! She’s the one controlling Tommy” he yells. “You can’t just blame Tommy like this, Kim!” he says and Kimberly stays silent. “I get it” he sighs. “You’re hurting. We all are. But _Rita_ is the reason Trini is gone. We can’t just let our anger out on Tommy for that just because she’s the closest thing to Rita right now.”

 

Before Kimberly can respond, she feels a comforting hand on her shoulder and turns around to see Billy smiling at her. She wipes the tears on her face as she tries smiling back.

 

“Right now we need to focus on what to do with Tommy. We’ll ask Zordon what we should do with her” Jason says and he looks in the direction of the ship and then at Tommy’s unconscious form on the ground. “We can’t take her back to the ship yet, it’s too dangerous.”

 

“We can tie her up. I’ll keep an eye on her” Kimberly says as she lowers her armor and pulls off her belt to tie Tommy’s hands together behind her back before she pushes her up against a cliff wall in a seating position. She then takes a seat on a log nearby.

 

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea” Jason says.

 

“It’s fine. I’ll stay with her” Zack says. “You and Billy check in with Zordon.”

 

Jason nods before he and Billy start running to the ship. Zack lowers his armor as he makes his way over to Kimberly and sits on the log beside her.

 

“You okay Kimmy?” he asks with a sympathetic look on his face.

 

“No.”

 

Zack sighs before running a hand through his hair. “Yeah that wasn’t the best question. Look, I know how angry you are but we can’t just-”

 

“ _Are_ you?” she says angrily. “Because the way I see it, I’m the only one who actually wants to avenge Trini.”

 

“That’s what this about? _Revenge_? You know it won’t bring her back Kim.”

 

“Yeah but her killer doesn’t deserve to be walking around living life to the fullest while Trini’s-” she cuts herself off. Zack sighs again.

 

“We’re all hurting Kim. Just because we don’t show it, doesn’t mean we’re not feeling anything” his voice cracks. “Do you know how many times I’ve woken up in the middle of the night after having nightmares about Trini? Every time I close my eyes, I see her all bloodied and bruised and I can never do anything about it.”

 

“Zack, that wasn’t your fault.”

 

“Wasn’t it? I was right there with her and I _still_ couldn't save her.”

 

“You were unconscious. And Trini told me she didn’t want you to blame yourself. It’s not what she would have wanted if she were here.”

 

“I thought it didn’t matter what Trini wanted.” he says recalling to what she had said earlier.

 

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

 

“Well it’s true. Trini wouldn't have wanted you to kill Tommy or be angry at her like this. We don’t do that.”

 

“Well that’s too bad” Tommy interrupts as she stirs awake. “Because I wouldn’t even hesitate to kill any of you. Hell, I already did” she chuckles and Kimberly takes a deep breath trying to contain her anger.

 

“Don’t listen to her. She’s just trying to get a rise out of us” Zack says.

 

“Wow, so smart” she says sarcastically. “I always thought you were the dumb one Zack. I mean, you were 10 feet away from us and you still couldn’t save Trini?” Tommy says and Zack clenches his jaw as well as his fists until his knuckles turn white.

 

“Or maybe…” Tommy stops as if she’s thinking it over “Maybe the real reason she died is because she was weak.”

 

Kimberly shoots up to her feet and walks over to Tommy before punching her in the face. Tommy smiles as she licks the blood from the corner of her mouth with the tip of her tongue.

 

“You’re _all_ weak” Tommy spits. “You’re not willing to do what needs to be done. You can’t even avenger your friend.”

 

“That’s because she wouldn't want us to go that far” Billy says suddenly as he and Jason walk up behind them. “And that’s strength, not weakness” he says. Tommy scoffs and Kimberly and Zack walk over to Billy and Jason.

 

“What did Zordon say?” Zack asks.

 

“We need to find out what Rita’s using to control Tommy to save her. He said there would be an object that Tommy has that is also connected to Rita, which is how she’s controlling her.”

 

“Is it her power coin?” Kim asks.

 

“Possibly. We need to figure out what it is before doing anything further” Jason replies and before he can say anything else, they’re interrupted by a loud snap behind them. They turn around to see Tommy standing up with her hands free and Kimberly’s belt ripped apart on the ground.

 

“Shit! I should've known that wouldn't hold her for too long” Kimberly mutters.

 

“Sorry but plans have changed and I really need to get going” Tommy says before she leaps into the air, landing on another cliff further away.

 

“Do we follow?” Zack asks. 

 

“There’s no point” Jason sighs. “We need a plan first. And we need a way to keep her contained. Like some kind of cell that can hold a Power Ranger.”

 

“That’s not something you can just find at your local department store dude” Zack says.

 

“I know, I know. Zordon said we’d work on it” Jason says.

 

“Yeah, and I’m gonna run some ideas by Alpha” Billy adds.

 

“So we just do nothing? We can’t just let Tommy run around free doing whatever she wants while we try to figure out a solution” Kimberly says.

 

“There’s nothing else we _can_ do” Jason sighs. “We’ll keep doing patrols at night and we’ll be ready if she does anything during the day, but right now there’s no use in capturing her if she’s just gonna keep escaping. We need something that will contain her. And taking her into the ship isn’t safe.”

 

“Fine” Kimberly scoffs as she turns her back to the boys and starts walking in the other direction to get back home.

 

“Hey Kim” Billy says as he starts walking up next to her. “I know this is frustrating, but we just need to be patient.”

 

“I know” she sighs. “It’s just hard.”

 

“I get it. We’re all… struggling” he says. “And I know it looks like Jason doesn’t care but he’s just trying to get us through this. I’ve seen him breakdown so much in the past few weeks. He thinks he failed as a leader because of what happened to Trini. And Zack is having nightmares and I know _you’re_ not sleeping well either” he sighs. “We’re all just trying to get through this.”

 

“What about you?” Kimberly asks.

 

“Oh, well- I can’t sleep well either. I try- researching instead. Anything I can learn about the morphing grid so I can find a way to- to get her back. Like how you guys got _me_ back.”

 

“You feel guilty, don’t you?” Kimberly asks as she frowns.

 

“If I could come back why can’t Trini, you know?” he swallows hard.

 

“You heard Zordon” Kimberly says and her voice cracks. “We can’t bring her back Billy.”

 

“I know but- I need to know we’re not overlooking anything. If there’s even a small possibility, I want to know.”

 

“I get it” she says and they walk the next few minutes in silence until they get to her house. “I’ll see you later B” she smiles softly.

 

“See you later Kimberly” he waves as he walks away.

 

Kimberly notices her mother’s car parked in the driveway as she walks up to the front door. She’s either home early or she’s got a long break, Kimberly thinks as she gets out her keys to unlock the door and walks in.

 

Her mother is on the phone and she’s frantically pacing in the kitchen.

 

“Kimberly!” she exclaims. “She just got back, I’ll call you back later” she says as she hangs up the phone and rushes over to Kimberly before pulling her in for a hug.

 

“Uhm, hey mom” she says as she hugs back a little awkwardly.

 

“Where have you been?! I was _so_ worried when you didn't get back from school earlier.”

 

“I was just out with some friends mom. It’s not a big deal” she rolls her eyes as she drops her bag by the stairs and walks towards the kitchen.

 

“No it _is_ a big deal Kimberly. There’s either crazy armored aliens running around town or giant rock monsters and it’s just- it’s not safe Kimberly. Your father and I were worried.”

 

“You called dad too?”

 

“Well when I realized you weren’t home I called to ask if you were with him at the office.”

 

“Really mom?” she chuckles lightly as she starts rummaging through the fridge.

 

“Well can you blame me? You go to school, then you disappear every afternoon and then lock yourself in you room and we barely see you. And you barely talk to us anymore and you’ve been isolating yourself ever since-” she cuts herself off.

 

“Well what do you want me to say mom? That I haven't been coping? Because I think that’s reasonable since it’s only been over two weeks.”

 

“The problem is, you don’t _talk_ about it. Your father and I are worried about you and we agreed that we want you to see someone about this.”

 

“What? Like a psychiatrist?”

 

“We found one in town who we’ve heard is really good with teenagers-”

 

“You can’t be serious right now. How am I supposed to talk to someone about this mom? How could anyone understand what I’m going through? I lost someone _very_ important to me, and talking about it with some stranger isn’t gonna fix anything. It’s not gonna bring her back and it’s not gonna make this pain go away. I loved her and she’s-” Kimberly pauses as she chokes back a sob. Her mother doesn’t respond, just pulls Kimberly in for a hug again. This embrace is tighter than before and Kimberly hugs her back before she lets herself cry in her mother’s arms.

 

“Sshh it’s okay sweetie” her mother says softly and Kimberly grips her tighter. “I know honey, I know it hurts. But it’ll get better, I promise” she says as she kisses Kimberly’s forehead. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You don’t have to talk to a psychiatrist if you don’t want to, just- don’t cut yourself off from the rest of the world. That just causes more pain for you.”

 

“Okay” Kimberly whispers before she pulls back and smiles at her mother, her eyes still filled with tears. Her mother just caresses the side of her face with a smile.

 

“Your father and I love you very much Kimberly. You can always talk to us about anything, okay?”

 

“Yeah” Kimberly says as she starts walking to the stairs. “I’m just gonna go lie down in my room. It’s been a long day” she says and her mother smiles before nodding.

 

When Kimberly gets to her room she pushes off her shoes and walks over to her desk, where Trini’s yellow bomber jacket is hanging off the chair. She picks it up and feels how cold it is from just hanging on her chair all day and puts it on before she walks back to her bed to lie down. She clutches at the sleeves as she curls in on herself and closes her eyes.

 

_“You sure about this Trin?” Kimberly asks as she hesitantly follows Trini up the cliffs. “Your parents said they want you home by 11. And it’s-” she looks down at the time on her phone “It’s way past 11!” she exclaims and Trini just chuckles beside her._

 

_“They won’t notice I’m still out. They’re probably asleep already anyway.”_

 

_“Are you sure? I don’t want you getting in trouble because of me” Kimberly says as she fumbles with her jacket sleeve. Trini suddenly stops in her tracks and turns to Kimberly._

 

_“I can handle my parents, it’ll be fine Kim” she smiles. “Besides, they love you.”_

 

_“Yeah but-” she says before she’s interrupted by Trini’s lips against her own._

 

_“Don’t worry babe” Trini smiles. “Now come on, we’re almost there”  she says as she continues walking up the hill to their destination._

 

_They finally arrive to the top of the cliff, with the view of Angel Grove lit up at the bottom of the hill beneath them. It’s a view that Kimberly will never get tired of seeing. And being up here with Trini just makes it so much better._

 

_Trini then pulls a large blanket out of her backpack and places it on the ground before sitting down on it, her legs stretched out as she leans back on her palms. She looks up to Kimberly and pats the spot next to her, beckoning for her to sit beside her. Kimberly smiles back before she sits down and lies on her back and rests her head on Trini’s thigh, giving her a good view of the night sky and of Trini._

 

_Trini leans down to give her a quick peck on the lips before she leans back up and turns her gaze back towards the town beneath them, while her palm cups Kimberly’s face as she traces circles on her cheek with her thumb. Kimberly brings her own hand to Trini’s wrist, caressing it with her fingers._

 

_They sit in silence for a while, just enjoying each other’s presence and the comfort of each other’s warmth as they stare at the view beneath them. Kimberly turns her head at one point to kiss Trini’s palm before she quickly sits up and moves to sit in Trini’s lap. She wraps her arms around Trini’s shoulders and links them behind her neck before leaning in and pressing a quick peck on her lips. Trini smiles before Kimberly leans in and kisses her again as she brings her leg over Trini’s lap so she’s straddling her, and this isn’t just a soft peck on the lips. This is heavier and more passionate, and they’re both breathing a bit heavily when they eventually pull apart._

 

_“I missed you today” Kimberly says as they rest their foreheads against each other and Kim nuzzles her nose against Trini’s._

 

_“We’ve been spending the past four hours together” she chuckles._

 

_“I know but a lot of that time was training and hanging out with the guys and I didn’t get to see you because of detention all morning… I just always miss you when you’re not with me babe” she grins before she leans forward to capture Trini’s lips in her own._

 

_“I missed you too” Trini whispers between kisses. The feeling of Trini’s lips moving warmly against her own always sends a rush through her. The way Trini’s breaths against her lips become more rapid and the way her hands grip at Kimberly’s hips tighter to pull her closer. This pure uncontrolled need they have for each other just always makes Kim’s head spin. And it always feels so right._

 

_“I love you” she whispers against Trini’s lips absentmindedly and Trini freezes. Kimberly pulls back and stares at her wide-eyed. “I’m sorry I- I didn’t mean- Is it too early- You don’t have to-” but before she can form a sentence at all, Trini’s lips are back on her own._

 

_“I love you too Kim” she says when she pulls back and looks back at her lovingly._

 

Kimberly feels her eyes welling up with tears after she recollect’s _that_ particular memory. It was the first time they’d said they loved each other. And they fell asleep in each other’s arms under the stars that night. Kimberly laughs as she remembers Trini telling her how she got an earful from her mother the next morning when she wasn’t asleep in her bed. Because of course Kimberly couldn’t help but say ‘I told you so.’

 

_———————————————————————_

 

“Are you sure it would be _here_?” Tommy grunts with every punch. The glass-like wall has crumbled in some areas but she’s only cracked the majority of it.

 

“Are you doubting me?” Rita’s voice echoes in her head.

 

“No, my queen! Never! It’s just… the Rangers would have found it if it were here” she says, ‘here’ being the mines in the area where the Rangers had initially found their coins.

 

“Well they didn’t dig deep enough then. Besides, Zordon doesn’t know the full extent of a power coin’s power. He was never interested in harvesting its full power, thinking it would corrupt us with greed. And that’s when I learned a few more tricks with my own. The coins always return to where they were found by a Ranger after they die unless placed elsewhere by another Ranger. Now keep going!” she hisses. 

 

Tommy sighs before she continues punching the wall and it starts crumbling more and more until she can feel a familiar vibration shooting through it. She rests her palm on the wall and smiles when she realizes the vibration of a power coin before she continues punching.

 

After a while she sees the yellow glow and after a few more punches the glass around it crumbles. She picks the coin up from the ground and turns it around in her hand a few times.

 

“Perfect” Rita says and she suddenly appears in front of Tommy like she usually does. It’s all in Tommy’s head obviously, since Rita is on the moon, but seeing Rita in front of her feels very real. “Now get to the grave and let’s finish this” she says and Tommy nods before she leaves the area.

 

It starts raining heavily by the time she gets to the graveyard. She stares down at the tombstone, something pulling at her mind. Like she should be feeling something, that she shouldn’t be doing this, but those thoughts are quickly interrupted when Rita walks up behind her and grips her shoulder with her claws digging in.

 

“Do it” she hisses. “Just like I explained earlier.”

 

Tommy nods before pulling out her own power coin as well as the yellow one and gripping them both tightly in one hand. She summons her dagger in her other hand and feels Rita’s power cursing through her body, as well as the power of the morphing grid. When her dagger and the yellow power coin start vibrating she slides her own power coin into her pocket before stabbing the tip of her dagger into the yellow power coin and it flashes green once. The yellow glow starts becoming infected with green, but only partly and Tommy sets it down on the ground on top of the grave, right in front of the tombstone. 

 

“Now what?” she asks.

 

“Now we wait” Rita replies.

 

 

_———————————————————————_

 

Pain is the first thing she feels. Just pain _everywhere,_ coursing throughout her body and she starts gasping for air. She opens her eyes to find herself in complete darkness and when she tries moving around she feels confined to the small space of whatever she’s trapped in. All she feels is that insufferable pain and like she’s freezing, but something above her seems to be drawing her towards it. She feels its warmth. Feels its energy vibrating around her and all she wants is to reach whatever it is.

 

Then it starts becoming harder to breathe and she panics, so she tries to escape. She punches the top of whatever wooden thing she’s trapped in and the wood splinters. She punches again and its starts cracking even more. Her fists start bleeding and she feels the pain shooting up her arm with every hit, but she _needs_ to get out. She needs to breathe and feel warm. And then when the wood finally breaks, dirt falls through and she panics again before she starts pushing it out of her face and digging her way out. 

 

When she finally reaches the surface she takes a deep breathe of air and collapses onto the ground. She feels rain falling on her body but she doesn't bother to move. Can’t find the energy to do so.

 

And then that pain returns. The physical one as well as the other one. The dread and emptiness, that makes her feel like something is wrong. That she shouldn't be where she is right now. She feels the vibrations and the warmth of whatever that thing was that she felt earlier. She lifts her head from the ground and sees a small rock-like coin glowing yellow in front of her and she can still feel its warmth, so she reaches out and clutches it into her hand. The heat washes through her as soon as she touches it, as well as a surge of some kind of power.

 

“Welcome back, Trini” someone says and she looks up to see a girl standing above her.

 

“Welcome back, yellow” another voice echoes in her head and when she looks up again there’s suddenly a woman in green standing next to the girl, and there’s just something so sinister and unnerving about her, with the way she grins down at her.

 

But she has no idea as to who they are - has no idea as to who she is herself - so she jumps to her feet and punches the girl in the gut, seeing her double over before she starts running, with no idea as to where.

 


	4. Chapter 4

“Why didn't it work?” Tommy says though gritted teeth as she clutches her stomach in pain after being punched by Trini.

 

“It’s not an instant effect. Besides, we didn't have enough power combined to fully control her _and_ bring her back” Rita says. “I’ve blocked off her memories so I’ll be able to influence _some_ of her thoughts but it would require some convincing to fully sway her towards our side.”

 

“So you only have _partial_ control over her?” Tommy asks. “What good is _that_ for?”

 

“Patience. It may not seem like it now, but this will all work in our favor eventually. Right now we just need her back with the other Rangers so we can attack from the _inside_ ” Rita hisses.

 

—————————————————————————

 

There’s blood dripping down her hands, dirt all over her face her clothes are ripped and all she can do is run. Keep running until she’s far enough to feel safe again. But that feeling never comes. She shouldn’t be here. She doesn’t where she _should_ be, but she feels like she definitely shouldn't be here.

 

 _Trini_. That’s what the girl had called her earlier. Was that her name? Was that who she was?

 

She feels like she needs to go somewhere specific right now but it’s as if her mind won’t let her piece her thoughts together to figure out where. So instead, she keeps running down the street and she only stops running when she feels something light up in her mind when she arrives outside a certain house. 

 

It _feels_ familiar. She feels drawn to it for some reason, like she’s been to it countless times before. But she can’t remember why. She just feels the need to jump in through the top left window that’s been drawing her attention ever since she arrived. The house’s lights are all off and that particular room seems dark but she can’t help but feel curious as to who’s inside that room. So she runs up to the house and jumps until she reaches the window. She grunts when she hits the wall as she grips onto the window sill, like it’s all some kind of muscle memory. She pulls herself up a bit to look inside and sees a figure lying on the bed in the dark. The walls look pink and the room seems so warm welcoming, even in the darkness. She sees the figure sit up in bed when the wooden sill creaks under her grip so she loosens her grip on it and drops back to the ground before running off again.

 

She looks up at the window one more time and frowns but doesn’t look back again after that.

 

The next time she stops running she’s on a cliff. She can see the entire town beneath her, with lights shining everywhere lighting up. She sits down on the ground cross-legged as she continues staring at the town's mesmerizing lights beneath her. And she stares all night.

 

—————————————————————————

 

“Did one of you guys try visiting me last night?” Kimberly asks as she places her food tray on the table next to Billy’s and slides into the seat beside him.

 

The three boys look at each other confused “No, why?” Billy replies.

 

“I swear I heard something outside my window last night” Kim says.

 

“You don’t think it was Tommy or anything, do you?” Jason frowns.

 

“No, there’s no reason that Tommy would jump up to my window and then just leave.”

 

“Maybe it’s just something that happened in your dream which you _thought_ you heard” Zack adds as he takes a bite of his apple.

 

“I don’t know. Maybe” she sighs. “We meeting up at the ship after school?”

 

“Yeah” Jason says. “We need to discuss our Tommy problem with Zordon.”

 

“Speaking of Tommy, have any of you seen her today?” Zack asks. “I have history class with her and she wasn’t there earlier.”

 

“Yeah I didn’t see her today either” Billy adds. 

 

“Should we be worried? Why would she just turn up to just disappear again?” Kimberly asks.

 

“We know Rita’s planning something” Jason says. “So Tommy disappearing every once in a while just means she’s acting out part of Rita’s plan. The only thing we have to worry about is what that plan is, because if we’re not prepared for what Rita’s got in store… well, we’re screwed.”

 

“Well I can look for Tommy around town a bit. I’ve got a free period” Zack says.

 

“Free period or are you skipping?” Jason asks and Zack chuckles.

 

“I won’t skip the _whole_ day. Just the next few periods” Zack shrugs. “I’ll see you guys at the ship later he says as he jumps up from his seat and leaves the school cafeteria.

 

“Anyone else ditching?” Jason asks as he looks from Billy to Kim. They both shake their heads. “I’ll see you guys at training later” he says as he picks up his tray and leaves.

 

“Is he okay?” Kimberly asks.

 

“He’s been a bit tense lately. With all the Tommy stuff and everything” Billy says. “We all are” he adds.

 

“Yeah” she sighs.

 

“So you woke up in the middle of the night again huh?”

 

“I could’ve sworn I heard something from outside.”

 

“It might not even have been a Ranger-related thing that woke you up anyway. The question is, did you sleep after that?” Billy asks.

 

Kimberly stays silent and shrugs lightly.

 

“It’s okay if you’re still not sleeping well, Kimberly” Billy reassures her.

 

“I know” she breathes. “I gotta go. I’ll see you later” she says as she picks up her tray and leaves it with the rest of the trays by the garbage can and rushes out of the cafeteria.

—————————————————————————

 

Even hours after the sun had risen, she hasn't moved from her spot on the cliffs. Her gaze fixed on the town beneath her, all night. She wouldn’t even dare to close her eyes again. Fearing she might not wake up.

 

And she also feels as if something is constantly tugging at the back of her mind. Something lingering there for her to reach but she’s too afraid to reach for it. So she finally succumbs to it, and before she realizes it something starts covering her skin. When she opens her eyes and looks down at her hand, she sees it covered in some sort of yellow armor. It covers her entire body and she even feels a helmet covering her face.

 

It’s another thing that _feels_  familiar but seems so foreign. She feels the energy coursing through her again. Like she did when she first touched that glowing yellow rock. The armor makes her feel powerful, like she could face anything.

 

Before she knows it, she’s back on her feet and walking again. And just like before, she doesn’t know where she’s going, but just follows the direction that feels right, and eventually ends up at a lower part of the cliffs, nearer to the town.

 

She can see the sun shining bright though her visor and can still feel its heat on her skin even with the armor covering it.

 

“Holy shit!” she hears someone yell from behind her, and when she turns around she sees a man smiling at her. “You’re a Power Ranger!” he says excitedly. “Wait till I tell everyone how I met a Power Ranger on a hike!” he starts walking up to her and she steps back but he pulls out his phone and fails to notice her trepidation.

 

He stops in front of her and reaches out, his fingers practically hovering over the front of her helmet and she grabs his wrist, holds it tight.

 

“Ow! What the hell?” he says.

 

‘Snap his wrist’ she hears a voice echo in her mind. ‘Now!’ the voice says, and she doesn’t even realize that she already _has_ until she sees the man on his knees screaming in pain and clutching his hand. She wasn’t even intending on doing that, but... that voice… it’s like it made her do it. Just the command alone, _forcing_ her body to act.

 

She stares at the man for a brief moment but then runs off.

 

 —————————————————————————

 

In the middle of Biology class, Kimberly feels her phone buzz in her pocket. She ignores it and sighs as she copies down another note in her textbook. Then it buzzes again. And again a couple of more times. So she pulls it out of her pocket and unlocks it under her desk to read the new messages in the ranger groupchat.

 

‘Guys, emergency’ Jason’s first message says.

‘What is it?’ Billy types.

‘Meet me by my locker’ Jason says.

‘ASAP’ he adds.

 

Kimberly locks her phone before excusing herself from class and finds Jason and Billy standing by Jason’s locker.

 

“No Zack?” she asks.

 

“He already ditched school” Jason says. “He might’ve already heard about it anyway.”

 

“Heard about what?” Kimberly asks and Jason pulls out his phone unlocking it to show them a breaking news article about a man claiming he was attacked by a Power Ranger. 

 

“This happened almost an hour ago. His wrist was broken and he said a Power Ranger attacked him.”

 

“Tommy?” Kim asks.

 

“No. And that’s where the ‘emergency’ part comes in” Jason says. “He said it was the yellow power ranger.”

 

Kimberly freezes at Jason’s words. She swallows hard and blinks a few upcoming tears away.

 

“A new yellow ranger? Already?” Billy asks.

 

“It looks like it” Jason says. “I’m gonna ask Zack to look around the mines and the cliffs. I’m gonna skip the next few periods and look around town.”

 

“What about us?” Billy asks.

 

“Just stay here for now. School’s almost over for today so I’ll let you know if we need you for anything. And Billy…” he says as he looks to the other boy. “Take care of her” he whispers as he motions his head at Kimberly. Billy nods and places a hand on Kimberly’s shoulder, snapping her out of her thoughts as Jason runs off.

 

“You good?” he asks.

 

“Yeah, just- it feels like it’s so soon.”

 

“I know but- I guess that’s just how the universe works. The power coin found another worthy Ranger so we just have to deal with that.”

 

“And what if I don’t _want_ to deal with that?” Kimberly says as she starts walking down the hall with Billy walking up next to her.

 

“I don’t think any of us want to deal with it right now but-”

 

“It’s only been a few weeks and we’re just gonna act like we’re ready for another Ranger?” she interrupts him as if she isn’t listening. “Like we’re _replacing_ her?”

 

“We’re _not_ replacing her. We’re just- adding another member to the team” Billy reassures her. He’s been doing that a lot for the past few weeks. Always trying to reassure and calm Kimberly down when she gets stressed like this. It’s how he gets Jason to calm down but she can tell that he knows it’s not working with her. No one could calm her down like Trini. But she still lets him try.

 

“Yeah I know” she lies. “I gotta get back to class” she says as she walks up the door ahead and enters.

 

—————————————————————————

 

“Whoa, whoa, slow down bossman. What do you _mean_ a new ranger?” Zack says as he stops in his tracks, clutching his phone tightly by his ear.

 

“Exactly what it sounds like. Someone found the yellow power coin. I’m gonna look around town to see if I can find anything and I need you to check by the mines and by the cliffs. The guy who was attacked said he saw the yellow ranger by the cliffs” Jason says.

 

“Okay” Zack swallows hard. “I’ll look around” he says as he hangs up the phone and shoves it back into his pocket. He runs his hand through his hair and sighs, thinking how a new yellow ranger isn’t something he thought he’d have to deal with yet. They’d barely gotten over losing Trini. He hides it as much as possible, but losing her devastated him. And seeing how much it devastated the others, Kim especially, just makes it worse. Because he was there and he could’ve saved her. He was so close and he failed.

 

He breathes slowly a few more times, trying to calm this overwhelming feeling of guilt and anxiety and finally starts heading to the cliffs.

 

He passes by the mines and smiles as he recall’s the first time they’d all met there. Not even a year ago. It was such a different time back then. They thought dealing with Rita was their biggest problem at the time. That slapping her into space was enough to give them peace. If only they knew how wrong they were.

 

He finally arrives at the cliffs and leaps up, landing on a large and tall boulder, to give himself a better view as he looks around, scanning the area around him. It’s quiet and the area seems deserted. The mine workers are probably on a break or something. Or maybe they left in fear of being attacked by this new yellow ranger. He sits down on the boulder as he scans the area again. But this time he sees something. A figure in the distance standing at the edge of one of the cliffs by the mines. The cliff that Billy blew up. The exact cliff which they found their coins under.

 

He jumps off the boulder and starts walking closer to get a better look at this figure. And he realizes that the yellow color that the figure is wearing isn’t just a fashion choice. It’s armor. He rushes over and jumps down the cliff he’s on to reach this person. They jump when he lands in front of them.

 

He looks over this new ranger. They're short like Trini was and they just keep backing up as Zack approaches.

 

“I’m not gonna hurt you” he says as he pulls out his black power coin. “I’m a power ranger like you” he says as he brandishes his power coin. “I just wanna help. Can you lower your armor?”

 

The yellow ranger just stares back at him, not moving any closer to him and not saying anything.

 

“You don’t say much, do you?” Zack chuckles. “I know that this all feels overwhelming, trust me I’ve been through it too. But my friends and I can help you” he reaches out again but the other ranger steps back again. “It’s okay, we can take it slow. I’m Zack” he says as he outstretches his arm for them to shake, but lowers it when they just stare at it. “What’s your name?”

 

The yellow ranger steps back again, as if they’re being cautious and guarded. Like they’re afraid of him.

 

“You don’t have to be afraid, I’m like you. You can trust me” he smiles. “If you don’t wanna talk, how about you just lower your armor instead?” he asks and the yellow ranger just shakes their head and steps back again, getting ready to run. “No no, wait! Don’t leave, please. You- You’re the yellow ranger now and I know it seems scary but you’re part of our team. We’re gonna help you figure this out but you just have to let us. Just- just come with me to the ship and you can meet the others.”

 

The yellow ranger hesitates but nods as they start to lower their armor.

 

—————————————————————————

 

She stares back at the boy curiously. He talks a lot, but she feels like she can trust him. So she nods when he asks her to lower her armor. She feels safe enough to do so when she notices how his smile never falters. She steps back before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She doesn't exactly know how to lower this armor but somehow, focusing like this feels right.

 

She feels a shiver run up her spine as she feels the armor retract into her skin. It disappears from her body and retracts into her chest. When she opens her eyes again, the boy’s- _Zack’s_  smile is gone. He looks at her confused and stumbles back.

 

“Wha-What?” he stares at her shockingly. “Is this some kind of joke? What- Who are you?” he sounds a bit angrier. “Did Rita do this? Are you some kind illusion to mess with us?” he scoffs.

 

She starts to panic at the boy’s tone. So she steps back and just as she’s about to start running the boys grabs her wrist. He looks down in shock at the confirmation that she’s actually real and not some ‘illusion’ before he looks to her face with wide eyes.

 

“Trini?” his voice cracks. There’s that name again. _Trini_. A confirmation of who she is- who she _was_.

“Oh my god, Trini” he says softly and he freezes, his grip on her wrist still tight. She abruptly pulls her hand out of his grasp and when he tries to move closer she panics and steps back before punching him in the face. He looks at her, shocked, as he moves forward again.

“Trini, wait!” and as his hand reaches out, she grabs it and twists it behind his back. He cries out as he falls to his knees and she lets go of his hand before running off. She hears him calling her as she runs. Calling her by her _name_. But she doesn’t turn back.

 

—————————————————————————

 

Kimberly sighs as she closes her notebook and puts it back in her bag before she leaves class. Apparently she’s been sighing a lot lately. At least, that’s what the boys tell her. But it’s become so unconscious that she rarely notices it.

 

She makes her way back to her locker, takes out what she needs and puts back any books she doesn't need before her next class period. Most students around her are rushing to get to class but she doesn’t speed up her own step. Can’t find the energy to do so.

 

Her phone buzzes when she gets to her next class. She unlocks it when she’s in her seat at the back of the class. The professor isn’t in class yet so the rest of the students are as rambunctious as they usually are outside of class, but she ignores them as she opens the ranger group-chat.

 

The fist message from Zack says ‘Found the yellow ranger. We all need to meet up ASAP’

‘What’s wrong?’ Jason’s message says, but Zack doesn't reply until a few seconds later when he says ‘I can’t explain it. It shouldn't even be possible. Group call. Now.’

 

Kimberly locks her phone again before she jumps out of her seat and almost bumps into her professor on her way out. “Mr Herman, can I be excused? It’s a family emergency” she says as she gestures at her phone.

 

“Yes that’s fine-” but she runs out the door before he can finish his sentence. She rushes to the nearest bathroom and paces by the sink as she waits for the call.

 

Her phone suddenly lights up, revealing a call from Zack with the addition of the other rangers. This group call thing was something Billy added to their phones. It was like a group video call but just with audio. Like the communicators in their suits. She swipes her thumb across her screen to answer and all she could hear was Zack’s frantic voice. He sounds like he’s running.

 

“Zack, what’s going on?” Jason says.

 

“I-I don’t know how to explain it. I-” his voice cracks and sounds strained. “I thought i’d just be— but it’s not and it’s-” he stutters.

 

“Zack you’re not making any sense, just slow down” Jason says calmly. “Tell us what happened.”

 

“The new yellow ranger- it’s not someone else it’s-” Kimberly hears him hesitate.

 

“Who is it, Zack?” she asks.

 

“It’s Trini.”

 

Kimberly almost drops her phone when she hears that name. Her eyes well up in tears.

 

“That’s _not_ funny Zack” she says grimly through gritted teeth as she tries to blink the tears away.

 

“I’m not- I’m telling the truth!” he yells. “I don’t know how to explain it, but she was right there, in front of me. She was real!”

 

Kimberly brings her palm up to cover her mouth as she lets out a sob and the tears run down her face. She slides down against the wall she was leaning against until she’s sitting on the bathroom floor and starts crying.

 

—————————————————————————

 

After running for a while, she’s finally got Zack off her trail. He tried chasing her but she managed to escape. She’s made her way away from the cliffs and into town and she notices how people keep staring at her as she walks down the street. Her armor is up again. She didn’t even notice it go back up, but she welcomes the safety and protection it brings.

 

Unlike the first man she ran into, these people are scared of her. They walk way from her instead of towards her, but she brushes them off. Continues walking down the street and following her gut on where to go.

 

She eventually ends up in front of a large building with a lot of windows. The sign on it says ‘Angel Grove High School’ and like many other things she’s experienced so far, it feels familiar. So she walks through the door and people start pouring out of classrooms to watch her as she walks down the hallway, not knowing what she’s looking for.

 

Most of them take pictures and she ignores the flashing phone lights as she walks past them all. Some start blocking her path and talking to her and even though she tries to ignore them, it all starts feeling overwhelming so she shoves a particularly tall boy who’s standing in front of her which sends him skidding down the hallway on his back. 

 

The others all seem to have the same look of fear on their faces and they start screaming and running towards the exit as she continues walking down the hall.

 

“Trini!” a voice from behind her yells. She stops in her tracks but doesn’t turn around. She knows that the voice is calling _her_ but hearing that name just feels so strange.

 

“Trini, it’s me!” the voice says and she turns around to see a light-haired boy walking towards her cautiously. “It’s Jason” he continues. “Remember?” 

 

She steps back and raises her fist to threaten him as he steps closer.

 

“Whoa, I’m not gonna hurt you” he says as he raises his hands defensively. “I just wanna talk” he moves closer to her cautiously and she stiffens as she prepares herself to attack if she needs to.

 

 

“Jason” another voice says from behind her and when she turns around there’s another boy standing there. She panics and she prepares to run again.

 

“Wait wait! The other boy - Jason - says. “That’s just Billy. He’s your friend too.” 

 

Then both boys start slowly moving closer to her, repeating that they won't hurt her but she panics. She punches Jason, sending him flying across the hall straight into some lockers.

 

“Trini, wait!” Billy says. “We’re not gonna hurt you!” she swings a punch at him which he dodges. She grunts as throws a few more punches that he also dodges before finally hitting him in the stomach and he hunches over. She raises her fist to deliver another punch-

 

“Trini!” another voice says which makes her freeze. A softer voice.

She turns around to see a girl with shorter hair than her own staring at her in shock. She stares at the girl confused. Something feels strange about her. It feels _right_. She approaches the girl and feels her armor slowly start to fade away. 

 

The girl chokes back a sob when it finally disappears off of Trini’s skin. 

 

“Trini” she says, softly this time and with tears running down her face. Trini walks up to the girl, standing as close as possible as she studies her face. The girl’s stance looks a bit guarded but the expression on her face looks sad but welcoming. The girl reaches out, her fingers hovering over Trini’s face.

 

“You’re real” the girl whimpers as her fingers make contact with Trini’s face.

 


	5. Chapter 5

“You’re real” the girl says again as her fingers trace the side of Trini’s face. Trini melts into the girl’s touch like it’s a force of habit, actually feeling calm for once since she’s been… awake.

 

“Trini, baby, it’s me; Kimberly” the girl says softly. “You remember right?”

 

Trini reaches out, her fingers hovering over the girl’s face, too afraid to move her hand any further to touch her. Something feels right about her. It puts her at ease but she’s still not sure she can trust any of the other four teenagers in the empty hallway. She initially hadn’t even noticed Zack walk in but he was currently standing next to Jason on one side of the hall with Billy on the other side. But in this moment, the girl in front of her was the only thing she could focus on.

 

“We just wanna know what happened to you Trin. We’re gonna help you, okay?” Kimberly says. “You can trust us.”

 

‘ _Don’t trust them’_ a voice echoes in her head. ‘ _They’re the ones who let you die. And they’ll do it again.’_

 

Kimberly smiles softly and extends her arm, waiting for Trini to take her hand. Trini reaches out and just as she’s about to take it-

 

‘ _She let you die, yellow! Don’t trust her’_ the voice says. She abruptly pulls back her hand and watches as Kimberly’s smile turns into a frown. A broken look on her face as she lowers her arm back down. Kimberly sniffles as she turns around to look to Jason and Zack who nod at her reassuringly. When she turns back to Trini she smiles again and composes herself as she straightens her posture.

 

“Trini please” her voice cracks. “I know you’re confused but we really _do_ want to help” Kimberly pleads as she extends her hand again.

 

The voice in Trini’s head keeps telling her not to trust them. To fight them and make her escape. Calling them her enemies. But there’s something about this girl Kimberly that she can’t help but trust. This time when Kimberly reaches out, Trini hesitantly takes her hand and Kimberly smiles. Even with bloodshot eyes and the slight quiver of her lips, there’s something about Kimberly’s expression that makes Trini feel some kind of warmth and… calmness.

 

Kimberly’s hand grips her own softly and Kimberly tries to pull her closer but Trini pulls back. She still doesn’t know if she can fully trust these ‘power rangers’ yet or not. Kimberly looks confused at first but nods in realization as she steps back, her hand still gripping Trini’s softly. The three boys move closer, but far enough away from them for Trini’s comfort.

 

“Now what?” Kimberly asks them.

 

“We can’t take her back home obviously. Her parents - and the rest of the world - think she’s dead” Jason says.

 

“So back to the ship?” Zack asks. The four of them don’t even look at Trini during this conversation so she inadvertently squeezes Kimberly’s hand, which she is still holding, for comfort and to reassure herself that this is all real. That she’s alive, standing here with them. Kimberly notices and squeezes back reassuringly but Trini stares at the ground and refuses to meet her gaze.

 

“That would probably be the only place that’s safe enough” Jason replies.

 

“What about my place?” Kimberly says. “My parents are out of town for the week.”

 

“I don’t know…” Jason hesitates.

 

“Well at least for a while. She needs to get washed up and she needs new clothes” Kimberly says as she gestures at Trini’s torn up outfit.

 

“I don’t think that’s a bad idea, Jason” Billy adds and Jason sighs.

 

“Okay fine. But be careful and don’t let anyone see her” Jason says. Kimberly nods as she unzips her oversized light pink hoodie and hands it to Trini. 

 

“Put this on” she smiles. Trini takes the hoodie and puts it on. It was a bit oversized on Kimberly but it’s _really_ big on Trini. She notices Kimberly smile at the size difference when she finally puts it on and zips it up. Kimberly reaches behind Trini and pulls the hoodie up to cover her head.

 

“We’ll leave out the back” Kimberly says to the boys. “Leave through the front entrance and see if you can make up an excuse or something.”

 

“Yeah because explaining why we were the only ones left inside the building with a power ranger on a rampage is _definitely_ gonna be easy” Zack say sarcastically and Kimberly grins as she leads Trini down the other side of the hallway.

 

Kimberly looks around every corner as they make their way to her car, and thankfully they get there without being seen. 

 

The drive doesn’t take too long but when they finally arrive, Trini stares at the house for a moment before they go inside. It was the house she had first gone to when this all started. That house was Kimberly’s house.

 

————————————————————

 

Kimberly fidgets with just about anything she can get her hands on when they get inside. Her keys, the hem of her shirt, an orange from the fruit basket on her kitchen counter which she offers to Trini who declines, and even the loose threads from the cushion on the back of her desk chair as Trini sits on her bed silently looking around her bedroom.

 

It’s all so… overwhelming. Finding out Trini is somehow alive, then confronting her and being met with confusion and silence. She hasn’t heard a single peep from the girl this entire time. She answers by nodding or shaking her head or even grunting. It seems like she can understand what Kimberly is saying but she won’t actually talk.

 

Every time she meets Trini’s gaze she sees some kind of emptiness in her eyes. She no longer sees the warmth and calmness that they always use to posses. It’s like staring at an entirely different person. And the hardest part to get through is that she still looks like Trini. But she’s a version of Trini who doesn’t know who Kimberly is. And she may be back, but it still doesn’t feel that way. In Kim’s eyes, Trini may still be gone.

 

“You sure you don’t want anything?” Kimberly asks and Trini shakes her head. “Not even water?” and this time Trini hesitates before nodding. Kimberly practically runs out the room and downstairs to the kitchen before grabbing a few bottles of water from the fridge and running back up. She sighs in relief when she sees that Trini is still there, sitting on her bed. That this isn’t some messed up dream. Trini looks at her with a confused expression on her face which she brushes off when Kimberly hands her a bottle of water. She basically chugs the entire bottle in a few seconds. Kimberly drops three more bottles on the bed and Trini grabs another one and starts drinking again.

 

“Thirsty, huh?” Kimberly asks and Trini shrugs as she finishes a second bottle and picks up a third. She drinks half of it before she screws the cap back on and drops it on the bed. She stands up and starts walking around Kimberly’s room, examining the pictures and drawings on her walls and stops in front of her mirror where Kimberly has all her ranger pictures. There’s a few group pictures and a few pictures with her and each of the boys and then there’s a few pictures of her and Trini. Trini scans them all, tracing her fingers over one that has her and Kimberly hugging and smiling at the camera together. She retracts her hand quickly and moves back to the bed and lies down.

 

“Do you want to sleep?” Kimberly asks as she takes a seat on her desk chair, and Trini shoots up in bed and shakes her head with wide eyes and a terrified expression. “Y-You don’t have to!” Kimberly quickly adds trying to reassure her. “Just- Whatever you want” and at that, Trini lies back and relaxes back on the bed. Silence takes over after that, with Trini just lying in bed staring at the ceiling and Kimberly watching her intently.

 

“So I know you can understand everything I say, but why don’t you talk?” Kimberly asks and Trini just shrugs as she studies Kimberly’s ceiling. “Anything interesting up there?” Kimberly asks and Trini doesn't respond. “Okay” she sighs in frustration and a slight crack in her voice, realizing that Trini probably won’t be saying anything anytime soon. 

 

She swallows hard as she wipes a stray tear off her cheek as she stands up and starts to make her way to the door to give Trini some space, until she feels a hand grab her wrist to stop her. She looks back and sees Trini now sitting on the edge of the bed and gripping her wrist, trying to pull her back with wide eyes and a pleading gaze. She lets go of Kimberly’s wrist and moves back on the bed while patting the spot next to her, inviting Kimberly to sit. Kimberly smiles even with teary eyes as she sits down at the edge of the bed.

 

Trini lies back down to stare at the ceiling and Kimberly mimics her, lying down next to her. They lie there in silence again. Trini shifts a bit, trying to get more comfortable every once in a while and Kimberly rests her hands together on her stomach waiting for Trini to… do _anything,_ really.

 

Suddenly she feels Trini’s hand covering her own before Trini pulls her hand between them on the bed and intertwines their fingers, like Kimberly did at school earlier. Kimberly looks to the girl who doesn’t turn to meet her gaze, but she still smiles. Because even though Trini doesn’t seem like Trini, she still feels like Trini. Reaching out and asking for comfort without using any words just as she always did, even though she doesn’t know who Kim is right now.

 

Trini probably feels Kimberly staring at her because she shifts on the bed again as if she’s uncomfortable again and Kimberly quickly looks away, focusing on the ceiling instead and examining the few pink glow stars there which she put up as a kid. She couldn’t get them all off so she just left them there, which Trini even teased her about once.

 

 

“I- I c-can talk” Trini suddenly says, her voice cracks as if she hasn’t spoken in days which would be the case in this situation. Kimberly looks at her wide-eyes as she waits for her to continue. “I just can’t… _focus…_ A-And it’s hard to think sometimes. I-I’m sorry” she whimpers.

 

“No I didn’t- You don’t have anything to be sorry about anything Trin. I just want to help you get better” she says and Trini nods. Kimberly hesitates before asking “Do you want to talk now?”

 

Trini hesitates and opens her mouth to say something, but shuts it quickly and doesn’t respond.

 

“It’s okay” Kimberly says. “How about we get you washed up?” she says and Trini nods before they both get up. Kimberly grabs some clothes from her drawers and hands them to Trini before leading her to the bathroom. 

 

“Let me know if you need anything, okay?” Kimberly says as she steps out of the bathroom but Trini grabs her wrist again.

 

“Y-You won’t leave. Right?” she asks as she looks at Kimberly with fear in her eyes.

 

“No, of course not. I’ll just be right in my room, okay?” she says and Trini loosens her grip. “I’ll never leave you” Kimberly says softly, fighting the urge to reach out and caress Trini’s face or hug her as she’s done countless times before. She walks out of the bathroom and shuts the door behind her before she lets out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding as she slumps back against the door and sighs.

 

————————————————————

 

Trini doesn’t move after Kimberly leaves the room. She looks around a bit before setting the clothes and towel Kimberly gave her on the edge of the sink. She looks up at herself in the mirror and realizes how much of a disheveled state she’s in. The dry blood on her hands, the dirt all over her face and clothes, and the tears all over her clothes. She looks away from the mirror as she starts taking off her clothes and eventually gets in the shower.

 

The warm water feels satisfying on her cold form as she scrubs the dirt and the blood off her hands and then the rest of her body. The blood on her knuckles is harder to get off with how sensitive the fresh cuts on them are from when she had punched her way through her… casket. 

 

When she gets out of the shower with all the dirt now off her face, she looks in the mirror again to regard herself. Her face is something that she still remembers somehow. She remembers what it looked like when she woke up but everything else is a mystery. Her identity washed away, with her face being the only reminder of who she was.

 

‘ _Don’t trust them, yellow’_ she hears that voice in her head say again. ‘ _It may look like they’re trying to help, but you can’t trust them. I can help you’_ the voice says eerily but doesn’t say anything else past that. Every time she hears the voice, she feels a throbbing pain in her head afterwards for a while.

 

Trini steps away from the mirror eventually and gets dressed before picking up her previous clothes as well as the towel she had used as she makes her way to Kimberly’s room. She stops outside the doorway as she hears Kimberly talking to someone and waits in the hall as she listens in.

 

“No, she remembers simple stuff like that but she doesn’t remember who any of us are. I don’t think she even knows who _she_ is, Jason” Kimberly says. Trini doesn’t hear a response and realizes Kimberly is on the phone. “I don’t know what to do” Kimberly whimpers. “She looks at me like she doesn’t _know_ me and when I look at _her-_ it just- it _hurts_. I can _see_ Trini but… it’s like she’s not there… And I just- I want her back” she says with a sniffle at the end. Kimberly pauses as Jason responds and then says “I know, I know, it’s just hard” and she pauses again. “Okay. Okay Jason. I’ll keep you guys updated. Okay. Yeah I will. Okay. Bye” she says as she hangs up the phone and Trini chooses that moment to make her way into the room. 

 

“Hey!” Kimberly smiles as she sniffles again and wipes a few tears away, as if she’s trying to hide the fact that she was crying. “Everything okay?” she asks and Trini nods before she hands Kimberly her clothes and towel and she sits back on the bed. Kimberly sets it all on her desk before sitting in her desk chair and turning to face Trini again.

 

“Are you hungry?” Trini nods. “I can get us pizza” Kimberly offers and Trini shrugs. “We can get it just how you like it” Kimberly beams, but Trini doesn’t respond, just picks up her water bottle from earlier and fidgets with the bottle cap.

 

“I don’t remember” Trini frowns.

 

“It’s okay” Kimberly says. “Maybe it’ll jumpstart your memory” she offers and Trini frowns. “Or I can just get cheese, just in case you don’t like it.”

 

“Okay” she shrugs. Kimberly just picks up her phone from the bed and leaves the room to make the order.

 

Trini stays on the bed, waiting until she she returns a couple of minutes later.

 

“Alright, all done. Now we wait” she says. She rocks back on her heels, biting her bottom lip and fidgets with the bottom of her shirt as the heavy silence takes over.

 

“I can tell you want to ask something” Trini says.

 

“Only if you’re willing to talk” Kimberly reassures her. “I don’t want to force you to do anything you don’t feel comfortable doing.”

 

“It’s fine” she says and Kimberly nods before sighing.

 

“Okay uhm… What exactly do you… remember?”

 

“I don’t remember anything. Well- I know how to talk and I know what things are, how things work but… I don’t know who I am, or if I have a family or who any of you are…” she trails off.

 

“Do you remember being a power ranger? You had your armor up earlier.”

 

“No I… I don’t know how I did that. It just felt right. Like-” she cuts herself off. ‘Like _you_ do’ is what she would have said, but she’s not sure if she’s ready to make that revelation yet.

 

“Like what?” Kimberly asks softly as she makes her way to the bed and sits down beside Trini.

 

“Nothing” she says and Kimberly nods.

 

“Well like I said, I’m Kimberly. You could also call me Kim if you want too. Everyone does”

 

“Did _I?”_

 

“Did you what?”

 

“Did I use to call you that?” and Kimberly seems caught off-guard by her question.

 

“Y-Yeah” she swallows hard and that heavy silence starts to loom over them again. “And you, me and the guys are the power rangers” she adds quickly before that silence takes over and before Trini can ask what she’s been wondering this whole time. “The guy you met at the mines was Zack, then you met Jason and Billy at school.”

 

“And we’re the _power rangers_?” she asks raising an eyebrow.

 

“Yeah. We protect earth and all that” Kimberly says as she shrugs with a slight smile.

 

“And are we… _friends_?” Trini asks hesitantly.

 

“Of course. Even more than that. We’re connected through the morphing grid, which is what  gives us our powers, so the connection between us all is… _pretty_ strong” Kimberly smiles. Trini nods as she prepares herself for her next question. It’s something she’s been thinking of ever since she laid eyes on Kimberly.

 

“And what about… _us_?” Trini says as she motions at the two of them. “Were we- close?”

 

“Oh” Kimberly looks down sheepishly as she fidgets with one of her rings and then pushes a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she tries to hide the blush creeping up on her cheeks. “Yeah, we were. Closer than we were to the others.”

 

“We were… _together_?” Trini asks.

 

“Yeah” Kimberly frowns.

 

“I figured” Trini mutters and Kimberly looks up at her again, curiously. “I felt… different with you.”

 

“Different _how_?”

 

“I don’t know. I just keep feeling so- empty and cold. I couldn’t think clearly and I felt so uneasy. Like- Like I’m not supposed to _be_ here. But when I saw you… I felt- at ease” Trini shrugs and Kimberly smiles again. There’s so much affection in her expression even with the tears welling up her eyes.

 

“That’s good to hear” Kimberly responds as her voice cracks.

 

There’s some kind of pause between them after that. Where neither of them are ready to ask their next questions so they just sit there in silence. Their gazes occasionally meet before either or both of them quickly looks away. Then Trini’s curiosity starts getting the better of her. Something that’s been at the back of her mind this whole time, now surging forward in her head.

 

“How did I-” Kimberly looks up at her with a frown as if she knows what she’s about to ask. “How did I die?” she gulps.

 

“You were-” she swallows hard. “You were being your amazing, heroic, selfless self and you saved us all that day. We were fighting… a rogue ranger, who was trying to get to our ship but you stopped her.”

 

“And she killed me” Trini adds and Kimberly nods.

 

“So uhm… Do you know- _how_ you got back?” Kimberly frowns.

 

“No. I just remember waking up and then digging my way out. And when I got out I saw-”

 

‘ _Don’t tell her’!_ the voice in her head says. ‘ _You can’t trust her’_ the voice hisses.

 

“I saw this” Trini says as she pulls out the glowing yellow coin-like rock and doesn’t mention the woman and the younger girl who were there too.

 

“That’s your power coin” Kimberly says. “So you didn’t find it somewhere else? It was already _there_?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Weird” Kimberly says but before she can elaborate, the doorbell rings. “The pizza. I’ll be right back” she says as she leaves the room.

 

Trini stands up and walks up to the mirror to scan the pictures again. There’s one with the five of them smiling which she focuses on. Zack holding the phone up and smiling up front with Jason and Billy next to him him with their arms around each other and then Kimberly hugging a smiling Trini behind them. They’re _all_ smiling. They’re all happy like nothing could go wrong. How did it change into _this_?

 

‘ _They betrayed you yellow, that’s how it all changed’_ the voice returns. ‘ _They all had a chance to save you that day and they didn’t.’_

 

“Why?” Trini replies.

 

‘ _Because they can’t be trusted. They’ve been corrupted by Zordon.’_

 

“Who’s Zordon?” Trini asks.

 

‘ _He was the red ranger of my team. And he betrayed me. Just like your friends betrayed you.’_

 

“They wouldn’t do that. Why would they-”

 

‘ _Because their mission is always their priority. Anything else will be sacrificed for that if necessary.’_

 

“N-No they… they _care_ ” Trini adds.

 

‘ _Do they though?’_ and at that Trini feels a tight pain in her chest and in her head as she falls back to the ground. 

 

_Everything seems to darken around her and she feels pain all over her body with two daggers stuck into her chest and shoulder. She sees Zack’s figure standing a bit further away. He won’t help her, he just watches as she bleeds out. Then Jason and Billy come into view, even further away from Zack, watching her struggle to breathe._

 

_And then Kimberly. She’s the closest. She walks next to Trini and kneels down beside her but does nothing to help her. The same neutral expressions on their faces haunt her as they watch her suffer. She begs them to help but none of them even flinches. And then she feels that cold and emptiness that she’s been feeling since waking up but it’s so much more intense now. Like she’s trapped in some sort of eternal darkness and nothingness. And it feels familiar, like she’s been in this prison before. It feels like she’s dying all over again but it’s different this time, it’s worse._

 

Then it all disappears and she’s in Kimberly’s room again on the floor.

 

‘ _That is how you died, yellow’_ the voice says. ‘ _None of them saved you. And they would do it again if they had to.’_ Trini’s had no memory of any of those visions happening so seeing it all felt so real. Like it was happening for the first time.

 

“N-No… They wouldn’t. They _wouldn’t_ ” she whimpers as she hugs her knees and curls in on herself on the floor.

 

_‘Just you wait then. They’ll prove how untrustworthy they truly are soon, and you will suffer from that again. I’m the only one who can help you, yellow. Meet me where this all started, where you woke up, tonight’_ the voice says before silence takes over again.

 

“They wouldn’t. They wouldn’t” Trini keeps muttering to herself as she feels her eyes sting from the incoming tears. 

 

————————————————————

 

Kimberly grabs a few napkins and places them on the two paper plates on top of the pizza box in her hands as she makes her way back upstairs.

 

“Sorry if I took long, I couldn’t find the paper plates” she says before looking up and seeing that Trini isn’t on the bed where she was moments ago. Her eyes land on Trini sitting on the floor curled up and rocking back and forth, lightly sobbing and muttering something to herself over and over again.

 

“Oh my god” Kimberly mutters and puts the pizza box on the floor before rushing over to Trini and kneeling next to her. She hesitantly reaches out and wraps her arms around her.

 

“Shh it’s okay Trin. It’s okay, I’ve got you” she says as she tightens her grip around Trini, pulling her closer. Trini turns in her arms and grips at her shirt as she sobs into Kimberly’s chest. Kimberly smoothly rubs one hand up and down Trini’s back while she moves the other on the back of Trini’s head and lightly runs her fingers through her hair while pulling her closer. 

 

“Don’t make me go back” Trini whimpers.

 

“Back where?”

 

“To the darkness. I don’t want to feel that again. I don’t want to die again” she sobs as her grip on Kimberly’s shirt loosens and she wraps her arms around her waist. Kimberly’s heart breaks at her words and before she knows it, she starts crying too. 

 

“I won’t let anything happen to you. You’re safe now” Kimberly says softly as she helps Trini off the ground and leads her to the bed. “How about you take a nap?”

 

“No” Trini swallows as she shakes her head and wipes the tears from her eyes and face. “I’ve had enough sleep eve since I-” she trails off.

 

“And you’ve been awake ever since you came back. You look exhausted, T. Just sleep for an hour or two at least. Please. For me” Kimberly pleads.

 

“What if I don’t wake up?” 

 

“You will. And I’ll be right here next to you. It’ll all be okay” Kimberly says softly as she caresses Trini’s face. Trini nods and lies down on Kimberly’s bed. 

 

Trini drifts off to sleep moments after closing her eyes and Kimberly sighs as she runs a hand through her own hair before lying down next to her, holding her hand and caressing it with her thumb. Kimberly spends most of the time watching Trini sleep peacefully and pays closer attention to every rise of her chest with every breath.


End file.
